For Jason Licht’s first five offseasons as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager, the buildup to free agency had two things working in his favor: (1) ample room under the salary cap to write big checks and (2) very few talented, young Buccaneers players eligible for free agency.

Monday was nearly the opposite, with Tampa Bay strapped with the least salary-cap space of any NFL team and two homegrown stars in linebacker Kwon Alexander and receiver Adam Humphries whose open-market values had soared to well beyond what the Bucs could afford.

It was a rough day for Bucs fans, with no additions to the roster and an exodus of three key players. Alexander, despite coming off ACL surgery in November, scored a four-year, $54 million deal from the 49ers, and Humphries, who has thrived as part of deep receiving corps since college, got four years and $36 million from the Titans. That’s a combined $90 million for two players who earned a total of $8.4 million in...